Monday, October 05, 2009

Consumers Union Goes All Political ... Time to Cancel my Subscription?

Below is the content of an email I just sent to Consumers Union:



Consumer Report's position on the health sector has the appearance of political posturing and lacks Consumer Report's neutral perspective. It appears that Consumer's Union is violating its mission in how it has chosen to address the health sector (for example: http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2009/10/consumer-reports-specious-stand-on.html

and also

http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2009/10/supposedly-neutral-consumer-reports.html

As a long-time subscriber to Consumer Reports these violations of Consumer Union's mission has me on the verge of cancelling my print and online subscriptions as Consumers Union has afforded me reason to question the veracity of its reporting.

Clayton Christensen and Michael Porter recently released books that critique the US Health Sector. Interestingly, neither book affords support to the models advocated by CU.

What is Consumers Union's response to mission violations? Does Consumers Union intend to continue following its current path on the health sector which undermines CU's credibility in my eyes? Has CU chosen to alter its mission and become a political advocate? Why should I continue to trust CU's evaluations of products generally, and assessment of the health sector specifically?
It will be interesting to see whether they reply.